Naruto: Crystal Mirrors
by AcidSerra
Summary: Short introductions, under 5K words each, for stories I started in the Naruto fandom that never quite made it to continuation.
1. Displaced

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Concept: What if an aged, Kage level, Sakura was sent to an alternate timeline at the beginning of the Third Shinobi World War?

* * *

Displaced

* * *

Sakura Haruno carefully examined the man across from her. It was strange to think how much could change in fifty years. How many friends could be lost and how much people could change. The only question that remained was which of them had changed for the better and which for the worse.

"I once respected you as a man of ideals. Perhaps that was wrong of me. I'd never truly understood the terror of a tyranny of ideals," Sakura stated. A quick mental inventory revealed that she only had a few more minutes of fight in her, more than enough in a battle of ninja. Still if she could get him talking it could give her precious moments to recuperate.

"I never go back on my word, Sakura, that's always been my nindo," Naruto spoke calmly and clearly. Unlike her he hadn't aged a day since turning twenty.

"Well sometimes you should! You know that. Sasuke should have taught it to you well," She said.

"Never say that name in front of me!" His anger translated to an outpouring of more chakra. The white cloth of his kage robe whipped around him in his anger.

"I'm too old to be intimidated by you Naruto. I was there when you were still a baka gennin who didn't even know what chakra was," Sakura flipped her long hair allowing her own kage hat to fall off and get caught in the wind. "We've been at this game a long time. Don't bullshit me with your inflexible ideals, we both know they can't be held to such absolutes."

"Nevertheless… I will protect them. I gave my word," Naruto said.

"Then there is nothing more to say," Sakura said and fell into a combat stance. Instead of the expected return to battle though, an array of barriers suddenly shot up around her. "What!?"

"You're one of my precious people too, Sakura. I won't kill you," Naruto stared at her. "So instead you'll go to another world, another time. I don't know where or when, which means even if you find another person able to work the array you won't have the coordinates to return."

"Naruto! You _bastard_! Don't you _dare_ do this to me! NARUTO!" Sakura shouted in anger. Her words were futile against the barriers that contained her though. A fraction of a second later pain wracked every nerve of her body and she fell unconscious.

* * *

Sakura came to full wakefulness in a matter of seconds. Like any experienced shinobi she didn't change her behavior in any way, merely allowed her senses to get a feel for the world around her. Those senses told her she was naked in and alone in a small room and had her chakra sealed. They were also telling her that her body was young and healthy, but she put that from her mind for the moment.

Ordinarily this would be the part where a ninja figured out they were screwed and began to make their peace with their coming end. Sakura was not ordinary nor for that matter was she solely a ninja anymore. Whoever had locked her away was hopelessly naïve, they really should have just killed her.

Attaining a preternatural stillness she allowed the power of nature to flow into her. In seconds the small seals attached to her back exploded one by one, leaving painful scorches but causing no lasting damage. A blue stripe appeared on her forehead and dipped down to between her eyes while her chakra coils nearly hummed with the power of nature. She didn't know who had gall to try and capture her, but they were definitely going to regret it.

With a single punch she slammed her cell door off its hinges and let it crash into the wall across from her. In an instant two men in ANBU masks were at the door ready to fight. To their dismay however the room was empty. Barely feeling the intent before they were hit each took a solid flick to the back of the head which sent them careening into the far wall with enough power to knock them unconscious.

"ANBU?" She couldn't help some curiosity as she got a better look at them. Judging from their builds the men wearing those masks weren't the ones she had known. Either they were not really ANBU, most likely another stupid attempt to restart Ne, or this world had different people in their ANBU. Of course it didn't really matter. This wasn't really the Konoha she'd come from either way, so it was pointless to worry about who she might meet.

It would, in fact, be safer to simply assume everyone was a stranger. That way she wouldn't be done in by sentimentality for a friend who may in fact hate them in this… Timeline? Dimension? Variation… That's good, we'll go with that. In any case it would be dangerous to make any assumptions about this variation.

The regular ANBU patrol was taken down with precise applications of her anesthetic palm technique without their even realizing she had been there. Without any further distractions she made good time up the next three floors. ANBU never did have the numbers to rely on press of numbers to keep their inmates in. Rather they relied on preparation and their elite skills. Or at least what such young pups would consider elite skills.

Her senses told her that a group of five were approaching, though they were still on the floor above her. The stairwell wasn't that far away, it wouldn't be hard to ambush the group in there. Yet… There was perhaps a better answer. It had been a long time since she'd used this jutsu after all.

With a great leap she slammed into the ceiling but channeled Earth nature chakra into it to so that it would mold around her rather than break. In an instant her face slid silently out of the floor just behind her targets. With a wicked grin she grabbed a leg of each of the pair of ANBU that were last in the group and pulled them down into the floor up to their necks. Applying her anesthetic palm was barely an afterthought as she slipped back down out of the floor.

She couldn't help a snigger as she caught sight of the legs of her victims dangling from the ceiling. Still she wasn't caught off guard when a section of the ceiling shot towards her like a spear. With a simple half step she let the jagged spear of rock slam into the ground beside her. Still it was enough of a distraction for the other three members of the group to drop down to her level unmolested.

She recognized one of the men in so far as he was a Yamanaka, but not one she could ever remember meeting. The other had white hair and seemed vaguely familiar… but no name came to mind. The last was a disturbingly good copy of the Third Hokage but his hair wasn't grey rather giving away the ruse.

Taking stock of the situation she realized that the situation wasn't really in her favor though it was far from unassailable. She was still naked, though she had at least picked up a kunai and shuriken pouch which she'd tied to opposite legs. Her jutsu arsenal should hold her in good stead, and luckily she'd have full stores after sage mode dropped since she'd used it before her regular chakra. Nonetheless it would leave her physically exhausted to exit sage mode and she was running low on natural energy.

Prioritizing the Yamanaka, she feinted towards the false Hokage and allowed them to break apart to try and flank her. At the last moment she slid to the side and landed a haymaker in the blond man's chest. So long as he wasn't suffering from any significant heart conditions, he should be just fine in a few days she diagnosed.

A tanto sliced through the area her left shoulder should have occupied, but her reflexes had already caused her to retreat down the hallway. Her eyes rested on the tanto for a moment, impressed by the white after images that trailed after it. Something about that niggled in her mind, but she couldn't place it at the moment.

Clouds of gunpowder suddenly pushed down the hallway towards her and this set off an instant hit of recognition. The signature Sarutobi fire jutsu, Katon: Haisekisho, was one she remembered well. Of course having helped Konohamaru evolve the technique meant she already knew how to counter this form. Without missing a beat she prepared a standard chakra punch in each arm then brought her hands together open palmed.

Even more than the enormous clapping sound, a shockwave emanated from her position pushing the gunpowder back the way it came. She grinned as the gunpowder failed to ignite meaning it was now within attack range of its user's allies. Without missing a beat she charged into the cloud and relied on her sage mode to navigate.

Despite both of them being blind in the cloud, the imposter Hokage actually managed to parry her first attack. Even more he blocked above her wrist where the chakra emission of the strength enhancing technique wouldn't cause additional damage. It was one more notch in the impossible theory that this man may not be an imposter after all… Still, imposter or not, she'd woken up in a cell and that made her cranky.

Planting her feet for the moment Sakura decided to engage this look-alike in a taijutsu battle. At the very least he should have kage level skills if he's going to wear a kage level face. Despite the gunpowder blinding them both, neither gave an inch. Sakura used her superior strength to cover for the larger motions that Tsunade's style had required. Each hit had to push him at least to his back foot or the faster, tighter, monkey style taijutsu he was using would allow him to get several hits in. Even still he was managing to get a succession of smaller attacks through on her upper arms and thighs.

For the moment, Sage mode was protecting her from the worst of the damage. However she could feel that it wouldn't last that much longer. A slight flutter at the edge of her senses caught her attention. The white haired man had managed to remove all three of his comrades back to the stairwell, well out of the way of the gunpowder.

"Kuso!" She swore as she felt her opponent make a hand sign. She wasn't so much annoyed at the imminent explosion of the gunpowder, but rather at the foolishness of the man who was about to waste his life setting it off. Her concerns were surprisingly allayed though when a dome of Earth closed around the man just before the powder ignited.

Thinking fast she collapsed to the floor and then into it. Better to take the shockwave in a protective layer of Earth than chance getting hit with shrapnel. Still the sheer force of the explosion left her feeling bruised and battered as she fell through to the next level. Taking the advantage of the temporary lull as the white haired man checked on the Sarutobi's condition she lay still gathering more natural energy.

It wasn't long before the white haired man leapt down to her level, obviously intent on dealing with her. Unfortunately for him he simply wasn't on her level. She kippuped and lunged towards him, or at least so it would appear to him. When he struck out intent on countering her she dug her fingers into the wall and pulled herself past him. A single powerful kick sent him sailing off down the dark corridor and hopefully into a fairly painful encounter with a wall.

Jumping back up to her previous level she found the supposed kage laying half buried in rubble. The dome had certainly saved his life, but its materials had turned against him and inflicted a variety of lesser wounds. Even a simple visual diagnostic told her that he'd probably be crippled for life if he wasn't healed soon.

With greater certainty of her course she cleared the debris from the man's body and gathered her chakra in her hands. It was such a contrast, going from the large blunt movements of her style of destruction, to the small and careful movements of healing. At the same time though, the enhanced strength technique relied on these small movements just as much, but it had been years she'd had to put any serious thought into accomplishing them.

Shoving the unnecessary thoughts from her mind she redoubled her focus on the man's wounds. Broken tibia… repaired. Shattered Radius… repaired. This tendon has been severed… repaired. While she maintained a rudimentary awareness of the world around her, an important capacity for a field medic, her sense of time was lost completely. Her patient was before her. So far nobody had shown up to interrupt her, which was enough.

When the operation had finished she realized that there was in fact someone nearby. They had obviously been hanging back to avoid interrupting her while she was working. "He should be fine," she stated without looking up. "Though he'll probably need a few days to rest. That was completely stupid and irresponsible of you to interfere earlier. I'm sure your village would have suffered greatly without him and creating the opening for him to initiate a suicide attack is as good as killing him yourself."

She didn't have to look to know that the white haired man had flinched at her words. With a satisfied smile she stood up and began walking to the stairwell.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To the roof. Personally I find it rather stifling down here," Sakura replied.

The man seemed torn for a moment, but predictably chose checking on his kage's health over chasing her.

A few floors up she finally found a changing room with some clothes her size. It wasn't much since it was just a standard ANBU uniform, but it was better than walking around buck naked. It also came with the added bonus of a spare ANBU mask which got her the rest of the way out of the prison without more than a few passing identity checks. The codes were old, but she hadn't been elected kage for nothing. She'd practically memorized the old ANBU codes so that she could better understand the events of the second and third shinobi world wars.

Finally she stood atop the Hokage tower and stared at the Hokage monument. Her mind was frozen in a single moment of realization as she stared at the three faces carved into the mountainside. The last of her natural energy faded away and a bone deep weariness invaded her body. Without the will to struggle she fell to her knees. Suddenly the mask felt much too tight and much too close to her face for comfort and she tore it off.

It hadn't even been a Butterfly mask, her old moniker.

Some part of her noted that she had become surrounded by ANBU operatives, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care. The full weight of the reality that she was in another Konoha, in Another World, was threatening to crush he psyche completely.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a hand resting on her shoulder. She turned to look at its owner, her eyes bleary with tears she hadn't known she'd cried, and looked directly into the eyes of Hiruzen Sarutobi. Despite everything, the kindness, empathy and strength she saw within them finally convinced her that this man was not a false, or a fake, but the Third Hokage.

She clutched him about the waist and sobbed into his stomach, not even noticing the way that every ANBU in the area looked almost eager to kill her at that moment. His hand stroked her hair and he murmured words of reassurance that only she would hear.


	2. Konoha Girl's School

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Concept: What if there was alternate world where the inhabitants weren't ninja, but their lives ultimately reflected their other self's fate? What if someone developed a jutsu to bring those people into the main universe to make killing difficult opponents easier?

* * *

Konoha Girl's School

* * *

Haruna Uchiha was counting down seconds. Not too long ago she had been counting down minutes, but now that there were so few left to go time had decided to expand them. It was a slow cruel torture for the young highschooler.

There was a whistle to her left, "damn Naru-chan, I knew you were an airhead but really last place on the exam rankings…" Haruna rolled her eyes to look at Ino Yamanaka feeling her annoyance rising. The blond was as perfectly done up as always, her hair clips jewel encrusted and perfume too subtle to identify but definitely worth its weight in gold. "How on Earth did you land Sakura-chan anyway? She's the top of the class and you're just skating by on your family name. Konoha Girl's Highschool, home to the elite and talented… and Naru."

A few of the other girls in the room stifled a giggle. Few of them felt any remorse over tormenting the school's most notorious spoiled princess. Haruna on the other hand could feel her muscles coil with the need to smack the obnoxious blond. Only her girlfriend's hand on her shoulder was really holding her back. She doubted Kina, heir to the somewhat prestigious Inuzuka family veterinary hospital, was taking any enjoyment out of it. The feral brunette probably just didn't want to spend any more time in detention than they already were.

For her part Naru just ignored Ino and went back to tapping out messages on her phone. Naru did give the outward image of a spoiled heiress, long perfectly plaited blond hair, professionally applied make-up and nail polish, and slightly too much expensive jewelry to actually be comfortable to wear. Only her close friends would know that she was more likely checking a stock portfolio than messing around on Fezbook.

"Sit down and shut up, Ino," Shikana Nara said without even looking up. "I'm not spending any longer in here because of you." The Nara and Yamanaka families tended to be pretty close and as a result Shikana usually found herself sharing the blame when Ino got into trouble.

Ino smirked, but sat down looking far too satisfied. A look that Naru wiped off her face in a single sentence, "Haruna, I was hoping you and Kina-chan would go shopping with me and Sakura-chan on Saturday." Naru's shopping expeditions were legendary things, covered for days afterwards in the gossip rags and inevitably led to some major shift or fashion trend dependent on what she purchased. The Yamanaka family may have wealth and tradition, but Naru Namikaze could blow their entire net worth on a single shopping trip and barely notice it.

Kina looked at her with pleading eyes. The girl had been begging her for weeks for a chance to go with them on one of Naru's shopping expeditions, and now she had been out and out invited. Haruna couldn't resist a smile as she pretended to think it over. "Sure, Naru, why not."

"Do you guys really need to get more stuff?" Shiina Aburame said looking up from the science journal she'd hidden inside her textbook, letting her trademark sunglasses slide down her nose slightly. Of course only Shiina would actually feel the need to sneak a science journal into detention. In fact, if Haruna remembered correctly, that was the reason she was in detention in the first place.

"It's not about the stuff, it's about the getting," Naru said, throwing her a catty smile. Her blue eyes had brightened considerably at the prospect of talking about her favorite subject. "Are you going to come, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata Hyuuga was one of the few people in class to have a family wealthy enough to actually match Naru in a shopping trip. Haruna couldn't help but wince at Naru's emotional tone-deafness though. The violet eyed girl had a crush the size of the Pacific on Naru, which was probably the only reason she'd ever gone with Naru on these trips before

"Of course not. You may be into that gold digger, but I'm not just going to sit by and watch as she steals all your money." Hinata's voice was ice cold and cut through the room like a knife.

"Sakura-chan is not a gold digger, Hinata. I've told you that before, and I'll keep telling you that until you get it through your thick skull," Naru said calmly. The up side to her emotional ineptitude was that she rarely felt the sting from other people's words.

"Jesus, don't you all ever shut up?" Tenten Mou said from the back of the room. They always had three upper year students watch over them during detention. Of course they tended to be pretty ineffectual on the best of days, so it was easy to forget they were there.

"You know if you all have this much energy, why don't you try out for the sports teams?" Rene Lee, captain of the Athletics committee and another of their overseers said. "Don't you think so Nelly?"

"How many times have I told you, it's Neri. And honestly I can't imagine any of them on a sports field except maybe Kina and Haruna." Neri Hyuuga, Hinata's cousin and all around abrasive bitch, rounded out the team of overseers.

The door slid open and everyone looked up hoping to see Hatake-sensei coming in to relieve them. Instead Chona Akimichi and Sakura Haruno wandered in. "What are you all still doing here?" Sakura asked, surprised to see the room so full.

"Hatake-sensei is being annoying and running late again. Come here Sakura-chan!" Naru grinned up at her and waved her over. The blond shamelessly pulled her pink haired girlfriend onto her lap for a good snuggle.

Chona chuckled at their antics and walked over to Shikana's desk. Nobody really knew exactly how the two had become friends. Shikana was a bit of a lay about and thin as a toothpick, even if she hid it with her overlarge turtlenecks, while Chona was the captain of the Judo club and looked like she was in prime shape to wrestle an elephant. When she caught the looks Ino and Shikana were sharing she gave a disapproving frown, "did you two get in a fight again?"

"No!-Yes." They both answered at once, Ino frantically denying while Shikana calmly confirmed.

"Am I going to have to put you two through team building exercises again?" Chona asked. They both paled and promptly muttered an apology to each other.

Without any warning the room was plunged into darkness. Haruna couldn't see past the tip of her own nose but her hand quickly found Kina's and she gripped it for comfort. She tried to speak but couldn't find her voice for some reason. Another hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled. Pain blossomed through body and she blacked out.

* * *

Haruna stumbled as she felt herself land on solid ground again. The impact must have woken her up. The first thing she did was check that she was still holding Kina. Her girlfriend was taking it worse than her, retching slightly next to her, but holding her hand in a comforting, if painful, death grip. There was a flash of metal and suddenly blood sprayed out of Kina's back and across Haruna's face and chest.

The blade came to strike again, but her well-honed reflexes from years of Aikido practice took over. She grabbed Kina and ducked low away from where she presumed the wielder to be. Kina was screaming and crying and locked her arms around Haruna's waist in desperation. Another voice started screaming in inhuman pain, but she didn't have time to look and see who it was. The blade was coming around for another swing and this time she didn't know if she could escape it.

With a brand new spray of blood the katana that was being swung at them stopped and fell to the ground, the arm that wielded it still attached. She could only stare at the arm, trying to calm down enough to broaden her laser-sharp focus.

"We have civilians over here, they're injured!" A familiar voice called out.

Haruna's eyes locked on the face attached to that voice, even though in some ways it didn't quite match. The man in front of her looked almost frighteningly like Hatake-sensei, though he had only one eye and was wearing some sort of face mask.

"Sakura, what happened? Where are the guys… for that matter what happened to your clothes?" The man's questions remained unanswered as Sakura was too busy trying to calm down Naru. The blond was screaming in pain and Haruna felt certain that particular scream would haunt her nightmares for years to come.

Suddenly dark red fire began to pour from Naru's skin. To her credit Sakura hugged her even closer, but it was obviously burning her skin off on contact. Hatake-sensei's look alike pried the girls apart with surprising strength. "Yamato, get over here damn it!" Haruna barely deciphered the words before wooden totem poles slammed into her friend pinning her to the ground, but also stopping the red fire somehow. She wasn't sure if she should be relieved or angry that the blond was now completely unconscious. Sakura sank to the ground beside her.

"Sakura, Hinata, Ino, you're all trained medics. What are you sitting around for?" A woman she didn't recognize landed next to Kina as she spoke. The woman thrust her hands onto Kina's back and had soon enveloped the wound in a green glow. Haruna could only stare and hope that she'd eventually recover from her current state of shock.

"Who are you!? Where are we!? What the hell is going on here!?" Ino screamed out in frustration. Three sets of eyes, though only five in total, turned to look at her. Then they swept over the entire gathering as if really seeing it for the first time.

"That's an excellent question," Hatake-sensei's doppleganger asked. "None of them has any more chakra than an average civilian," he said to his teammates.

"Hatake-sensei...?" Chona choked out though still obviously rather out of sorts.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake. Who are you?" Kakashi responded.

"Chona… Akimichi…" Chona could barely respond. Shikana and Shiina both stared at the man openly, their minds obviously kicking into gear as they became the first to recover from their shock.

"Is… Will she be okay…" Haruna asked the woman that she guessed was trying to heal Kina somehow. All her attention was on the wound slowly knitting back together on her girlfriend's back.

The woman looked up at her in sympathy, "I can only perform first aid here. We'll need to get her back to the village soon if she's going to live. We can't move her yet, it'll be at least another five minutes." Haruna nodded dumbly and just did her best to hold the suffering girl still as the woman worked.

Kakashi ran through a number of hand signs and then smacked the ground causing a small dog to appear in a puff of smoke. "Pakkun, I need you to report to the Hokage. Mission failed, we've got wounded and missing, returning to the village best speed."

"Alright Kakashi," the dog said, instantly drawing the eyes of anyone who'd managed to gain awareness.

"That dog just talked." Sakura said, but her voice was disturbingly empty and deadpan. She was holding Naru's shoulders tight even though her skin had angry red burnt patches all the way down her arms. The dog gave her a surprised look but then bounded away across the field they were sitting in the middle of.

"I think some quick introductions are in order," Kakashi said, flicking his eye from one person to another.

"I can take care of that," Shikana said stepping in front of the group. "I'm Shikana Nara, this is Shiina Aburame. Those two are Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuuga," she continued unable to read from his expression what he might think of their names. "Kina Inuzuka is the one who got slashed, Haruna Uchiha is holding her." This time Kakashi's eye widened and both of his peers openly stared. Haruna suddenly felt very uncomfortable from the healer's gaze since the woman was already within her personal space to do her work. "And to round out the first years are Sakura Haruno and Naru Nami-"

Kakashi moved faster than any of them could see and had clamped a hand over Shikana's mouth. "I have a guess what name you were about to say, but that's too dangerous here. If you care for your friend's life don't say it or tell it to anyone unless you absolutely must." Shikana nodded. The blood drained from her face but she was doing an admirable job keeping her cool for the most part. "Now, you said first years. First year of what?" He removed his hand so she could answer and even took a polite step back.

"Uh… First year students at Konoha Girl's High School," Shikana said. Her eyes rested on his forehead protector for a moment. The symbol carved onto it said 'Shinobi' but she wasn't really certain why. Perhaps everyone in their society wore a forehead protector denoting their profession? Perhaps it was merely decoration, though, like the Uzumaki girl's school swirl that was discretely worked into the design of their uniform jackets in memory of their sister school. Letting her eyes wander from their faces for a moment she noticed something peculiar, the Uzumaki swirl was present on their clothing as well. That it was of significance was obvious, but she didn't have time to figure out why it was significant at the moment.

"Anyways, to finish introductions these are the second years, Rene Lee, Tenten Mou, and Neri Hyuuga." She finished going through the group and sighed.

A group of four men broke from the trees around them. Shikana didn't recognize any of them, and none of them had the Uzumaki swirl on their clothes. For a second she thought there was going to be more fighting but instead Kakashi took charge of them. "You were all confirmed clean. We're taking four of these on ahead for medical treatment, we need the other eight escorted to HQ. They're non-ninja and their exact identity is now classified as a Kage level secret. Do not let ANY of them out of your sight and prevent their capture at all costs."

"I suddenly feel important in a very bad way…" Tenten said. Shikana, Neri and Shiina all nodded in agreement.

The medic slowly pried Kina from Haruna's grasp and disappeared with her at an impossibly fast speed. The brown haired man from the first group of three made a few handsigns and then called some sort of tree into being that then took on the form of the man himself. The original gently pulled Sakura away from her girlfriend while the copy collected Naru. Both left carrying a girl. Finally Kakashi himself picked up Haruna and took off after his teammates.

Tenten and Neri seemed to have finally completely unfrozen and each produced their high end touch screen phones. A few seconds of nervous tapping later and Neri reported their findings, "our internet is cut and we can't get an outgoing signal. Apps seem to work okay though."

"It sounds like we're going for a walk. How far away is this HQ of yours?" Rene said, running a hand through her thick black bob cut.

One of the men looked up into the sky for a moment before speaking, "if we start now we can arrive before nightfall."

Shikana gently pulled Ino up from where she was still sitting on the ground, "then I suggest we get started."


	3. Yin Naruto

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Concept: What if Naruto contained the Kyuubi's Yin chakra rather than the Yang? What if the importance of having only half the chakra was better explored?

* * *

Yin Naruto

* * *

"Sasuke! Why?" Naruto cried. Confusion and pain welled up within him as he watched his friend labor under the coat of senbon needles that pierced his flesh.

"I don't know… I… just moved." Sasuke said. The boy's legs gave way and he fell with a soft thump.

"He died bravely, protecting you. To protect a precious person, knowing it was a trap, he is a shinobi that deserves respect." Haku said, still kneeling from the blow that Sasuke had landed on him. "Is this the first time you've lost a friend? You'll eventually lose many to the way of the shinobi."

"Shut up…" Naruto growled out. A fiery anger spread through his gut, whiting out his mind. "I… won't… _forgive you!"_

Just as the white hot anger seemed unbearable a shattering pain tore through his gut. Dark blue chakra emitted from his body in waves rippling with immense heat. His skin blackened and cracked in the heat while his clothes burned to cinders, but the shroud of chakra maintained the heat at a space of mere inches from his skin.

A few senbon were thrown his way but they disintegrated harmlessly in the heat and outward push of chakra. Naruto didn't even notice as the heat and pain became his whole world.

The skin that was already blackened became hard and intractable. A layer of claustrophobia blanketed on top the pain and he knew he had to get out. _Free! Must get free! _A persistent voice shouted in the back of his mind.

Naruto pushed with all his might against the constricting barrier of burnt skin. Crackles and snaps filled the air as the blackened husk slowly cracked along previously unseen seams. He pushed harder, lengthening the cracks and breaking pieces along the joints.

He roared as he gave a final almighty push against his blackened container. Burnt skin shattered and fell to dust as blue and white flames leapt from his mouth causing the mirror above him to explode into a cloud of steam. The pain disappeared with his release and suddenly he felt lighter and freer than he'd ever been.

Then his eyes settled on the masked ninja. He didn't even care that he could see so much clearer and better than he ever had before. Didn't notice the way his ears twitched at the slightest sound of rustling cloth from the missing nin. His whole attention focused down into a single minded desire to tear and rip and shred and kill.

Naruto lunged with a speed he'd never known before breaking a mirror in a single hit. The masked nin had sensed the danger though and leapt to one of the other mirror's in the array. His eyes widened behind the mask when Naruto appeared before his refuge. Nonetheless the boy managed to jump mirrors again avoiding Naruto's punch.

With a cry of frustration Naruto unleashed a torrent of fire on a whole range of mirrors instantly reducing them to steam. Without hesitation he flew into the air and slammed fist and feet into the rest of the mirrors, no longer caring which one hid his prey. Finally his fist met the porcelain of a hunter's mask and launched the boy through one of his own mirrors and across the bridge.

In a flash Naruto was after his target. He hauled up the ninja's broken body by the front of his shirt and cocked a fist back ready to break through the skull of his enemy. The porcelain cracked and shifted and a primal instinct cackled with glee that he'd finally see his enemy's face, bared for all to see. And the pieces fell.

It was like being dowsed with ice water. The face he was looking at was impossible. There was no way that boy from the forest could be the murderer he was just preparing to kill. "Why…?" The word squeaked out of his throat sounding wholly alien to his ears.

"Zabuza… is my precious person. I am his weapon, his tool… That is the way of the shinobi," Haku whispered to him. His eyes were strangely sympathetic as he looked at Naruto. "Now I am broken. Useless. Please kill me, a broken tool should not be allowed to remain."

"But… But… Why him!?" Naruto asked in that same too high voice. He'd been ready to kill a monster, but this boy? It felt as though a piece of his heart was being torn from him.

"My… gift… My kekkai genkai… Such things were not thought well of in my home. People like me were hunted down, killed to the last. Even the children. My mother… She was like me, but my father… It was my fault. I had just discovered what I could do… My father must have seen me show my mother. He killed her and I…" The boy's eyes fell and regret etched into his features. "I was so scared. I reacted on instinct. By the time I realized what I'd done… He was already dead."

"I was alone for a long time. It felt like forever, just lying in those frozen alleys. I had no reason to survive. Then Zabuza found me. He made me his weapon, trained me and gave me purpose. To live without a purpose… it is a very painful thing, more painful than even this," Haku stated. "I have no desire to go back to that. Please. Kill me."

Tears streamed down Naruto's face and his hands shook. Now that he could see them they were slimmer than he remembered and his nails were long and clawed. But he pushed that from his mind and latched those too slim hands around the side of the boy's face. He trembled but slowly built his resolve. "I'm sorry," Naruto whispered.

"Thank you," Haku whispered in reply.

With a sickening crack the boy's neck broke under Naruto's violent twist. For a brief second the boy's body spasmed as it tried to save itself from the inevitable end. Then it was over and all that lay beneath him was a corpse. Descending into tears, he clutched at Haku's shirt and let the sobs wrack through his body.

He wasn't sure how long he'd stayed like that, though he could guess it was only a few minutes. At the edge of his awareness he could hear Sakura crying and knew she'd discovered Sasuke's body. A bone deep shame settled into him. But the sound of dozens of scuffling feet distracted him from his guilt.

"So I guess Zabuza wasn't much of a demon after all," a nasally voice commented. Naruto looked up to see the source of the voice. The short man in a western style business suit didn't impress him in the least. "Where's that brat, I owe him for my arm."

Naruto stood and began to walk towards the ugly little troll of a man. He knew it was this man's fault. They were here at all because of him. He'd had to… Haku was dead because of him. _Sasuke _was dead because of him. Those thoughts were all that occupied his mind as he walked towards the man.

"Oh, you got a problem with me little girl?" Gato taunted. A wave of snickers passed through the crowd behind him.

He didn't even remember moving. One moment he was facing down the miniature magnate, the next he was looking over the empty shoulders of the man's collapsing body while his head sailed off the bridge. Only the feel of blood against his left hand informed him that he had been the one responsible for the decapitation.

"W-what the hell!?" One of the men arrayed behind Gato's corpse shouted. "Quick, kill the bitch!" Another screamed.

Naruto breathed deep while gathering his chakra within his lungs. It was little more than pure instinct but that seemed to have been enough so far. The bridge vibrated with the steps of dozens of men stampeding towards him. Then he exhaled.

Blue and white reflected in his eyes as the bridge before him turned into a hellscape of burning and melting bodies. He forced himself to watch as they died. He didn't know if it was doing it to punish himself or enjoy their end more fully. Either way he couldn't look away.

His ears twitched around to focus on the sound of coughing behind him. Finally tearing his eyes away from the spectacle of death he caught sight of Sasuke moving ever so slightly. Judging by Sakura's smile he was alive. A cold rush of relief ran through him, but it barely touched the gnawing emptiness that had settled in his heart the moment he'd snapped Haku's neck.


	4. Accidental Aburame

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Concept: What if a minor noble from the Earth kingdom wound up infested with kikaishu beetles and was accepted into the Aburame clan?

* * *

Accidental Aburame

Beaten, stripped, left for dead. She lay unmoving on the forest floor. The passing of time meant little to her in her haze of pain and betrayal. Perhaps eventually her mind would begin to fill in the blanks, but for now she honestly couldn't say how she'd actually come to this.

Off to her right she heard a chittering sound. Opening her remaining good eye did little to inform her of the nature of her visitor due to the darkness. Any other day it might have sounded ominous, but just then she was far too injured to be intimidated. With any luck, it would be something dangerous come to put her out of her misery.

A few moments later she could feel the legs of hundreds, possibly thousands of tiny insects making their way up her limbs. She briefly wondered if they were a carnivorous type of beetle. The pin pricks of pain followed by the incredibly creepy feeling of their moving under her skin seemed to answer that. Being eaten alive was certainly not the way she wanted to go. Still she was far too broken to object.

Her tenuous grip on consciousness failed her and she slid back into the darkness.

* * *

When she woke it was daytime. Her body was in less pain then before but it felt far stranger. No longer were the majority of the beetles crawling on her. Instead she could feel masses of them moving inside of her. It was certainly the queerest thing she'd ever felt, but she preferred it to the pain of near death.

Careful not to put too much pressure on her left arm, which she was fairly certain was broken, she levered herself up into a sitting position. Now that she could finally get a good look around the clearing she was in it became even clearer that she had no idea where exactly she was.

Certainly she knew in a political sense she was in the borders of Fire country. Geographically she knew that this was a forest that faced the Eastern edge of their nation and the sea. None of that told here where she was, right that moment, and which way she'd need to go to find a village.

Her mind finally identified the sound of a river nearby and she decided to put off any ancillary concerns for the moment. Instead she stumbled the few hundred feet to the bank of the small river and fell to her knees. Small was almost an understatement, she could probably have crossed the river in a good jump. Right now it was a blessing that her parched throat forbid her to make light of.

She drank her fill immediately. Any thoughts of decorum were abandoned as she plunged her mouth into the river to drink. The water felt wonderfully cool against the scratchy heat of her throat. When she was finally satisfied enough to slow down she caught sight of her own reflection in the water. With an angry snarl she scrubbed at the remnants of the expensive makeup left over on her face. It was a reminder she didn't need right now of a life she'd never get back.

The bugs seemed to have caught on to her agitation and it made them move around more aggressively. Grimacing at her object lesson, she brought her emotions back under control. She'd always been reminded to project serenity, no matter the situation. Apparently it would be just as important for dealing with these bugs as it was in her previous life.

A sound out in the forest caught her attention and she threw herself to the ground. Lying prone in the mud wasn't especially comfortable, but she was taking no chances of their returning to finish her off. Luckily the bank was inclined enough that it would probably hide her from direct view. Still she held her breath as her heart thumped in her ears.

"Well someone went down here. Most of the blood is dry though," a young boy said.

"We need to hurry. Something has put their companions on alert. They are nearby, but their companions are refusing to talk for the moment," a more monotone boy's voice replied.

"Are you sure you don't know who this is? Your clan is pretty close knit from what I've observed," a woman added.

"It is unlikely, but I have not met every member of my clan," the monotone boy replied.

"Hinata, get a look with your Byakugan," the woman said.

Her blood suddenly ran cold. If the legends and rumors were to be believed a Byakugan user could see everything in a full three hundred sixty degree radius even through objects. She clawed at the dirt in frustration and silently wept. This was to be her end, after everything she had survived and overcome… it ended here. There was nothing she could do against even a single ninja on a good day, and this was not a good day.

"Over by the river, there's someone," a young girl said.

With her doom now certain all the tension left her body. It seemed, however, that it was that tension which had kept her conscious. This time she willingly embraced her descent into blissful oblivion.

* * *

She jolted back to wakefulness in a single awful moment of insane pain. A blistering scream tore out of her throat and her eyes shot wide open.

"Oh my god! Remove the seals! Get them off right now!" A voice said off to one side of her.

It was meaningless to her. She couldn't understand anything beyond the pain wracking her entire body. Something was wrong with her heart as well. Its rhythm was sporadic and unpredictable. Her vision was stained white by the pain preventing her from seeing the world around her at all.

"What's going on!?"

"We don't have time for that right now! Get the damn seals off!"

"We'll need permission from-"

"If you don't get them off she dies right here, right now! I'm attending physician, take them the fuck off! Now dammit!"

Something changed and the pain began to abate. It didn't melt away completely, but rather reduced in excruciatingly slow increments. She didn't need to scream anymore, but she whimpered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Finally the pain had receded enough that she could once again fall into darkness.

* * *

This time she awoke within what was clearly a cell. The bed was surprisingly comfortable and the clothes that she'd been dressed in were clean, so perhaps it was better than before, but not by much. At least her wounds had been tended, if the cast on her left arm was anything to go by.

She began a silent prayer to whatever deity may be listening that this was not a ninja prison. Nobody had ever really given her a specific rundown of how ninja and regular prisons were different, but she'd heard enough horror stories during her infrequent visits to Iwagakure to know that people rarely left ninja prisons intact. Or sane for that matter.

If this was a civilian prison maybe they'd just give her a good lecture and let her be on her way. Maybe she could drop a few names and get a little help for the journey home. Not that she'd go there, that place could never be her home again. Not anymore.

The door opened and an imposing man dressed in all grey walked in. Her mind didn't even register the features of his face or the particulars of his dress. Instead her eyes settled on the forehead protector with the icon of the hidden leaf etched onto it. Her heart fell into her stomach. Before he could even say anything she broke down and cried.

"I want to go home…" she said mostly to herself. Not the place, that wasn't home anymore. No she wanted to be back where she could smell her mother's baking. Where her father's servants would occasionally stop by to talk with her mother while they discreetly watched her. That never again time and place where she knew she was loved and everything was warm with that love. "I want to go home," she repeated even quieter.

"And where is home?" A masculine voice asked.

She didn't look up. Instead she brought her knees up to her chin so she was curled into a tight ball on the bed. Where had it all gone so wrong? What had happened to turn everything on its head? Why was she here now instead of in that wonderful heaven that had been her home? A faint fluttery feeling in her stomach reminded her of her strange cargo, and where she was now. "It… isn't there anymore… I guess."

"What's your name?" He asked in a surprisingly kind voice.

"Tsukino. Matamero Tsukino," she replied.

"And why were you out in the woods like that, Tsukino-san?" He continued his questioning.

"They chased me. After…" she faltered, "after they killed mama they chased me. I ran for so long… It had to have been hours, the sun went down during the chase. But I wasn't fast enough; they always caught up… and… I… I fell. They were all around me. I couldn't get up. I was so tired, too tired to get up."

Mercifully he seemed to back off for a moment to consider what she'd said. She shivered, but tried to just stay in her ball. Maybe if she just stayed like this he'd just ask her some questions and then let her out. He opened the door behind him and let in someone with a tray. She could smell the food from her bed and it made her mouth water in the worst way. Probably because she hadn't eaten since before the attack.

"Tsukino, I'm going to leave now while you eat. I'll be back to ask you a few more questions later," he said. She could only nod in assent. He made good on his word and left soon after the person that brought in the tray had.

Certain there was nobody around to witness her, she dug into the food without a single care to etiquette or decorum.


	5. Emerald Knights

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Concept: What if there was another group of high ranked chakra users in the elemental nations?

* * *

Emerald Knights

* * *

Kurenai's eyes drifted to the leader of their small column. The woman had red hair cropped short enough to require no care and dark eyes. Her face was hard and a few battle scars graced her cheeks. She wore a set of green armor that looked positively svelte compared to most samurai, but still gave her adequate protection to everywhere except her upper arms which were left bare. Perhaps most strange for someone who fought shinobi on a regular basis she didn't wear any sort of anti-poison mask.

As a shinobi she couldn't help but be fascinated by the woman in green armor. The Knights of Emerald were the only faction within the elemental countries whose chakra control skills were wholly independent of the basic principles of ninjutsu. Even the samurai who stood in opposition to ninja had originally inherited most of their abilities from training under ninja or missing-nin.

Supposedly every member of the Knights had their own kekkai genkai as well. This came as another curiosity to the ninja community as the Knights were a cloistered group composed entirely of women. Even more so they expressly forbid the reproduction of their members. How exactly they kept finding such talented members for their merry band of mercenaries was the number one question among the hidden villages.

Suddenly Hinata whistled a short sharp tune. Each member of her team listened carefully, and even the knight at their fore turned her head and listened though Kurenai doubted she could decode the message. Kurenai moved through a quick set of hand signals to her team then moved to the fore of the formation for a moment.

"Five ninja approaching from the front. Ten mercenaries approaching from the back. Two of my team will cover the back while we cover the front," Kurenai said.

The knight simply nodded and then turned her attention forwards. The formation corrected around them, but nothing was said to give away that they were aware of the coming ambush. Silence descended then seemed to drag on. Knowing the range of Hinata's eyes the enemy should have already been on them. So they had to have stopped to formulate a new plan when they realized their enemy's strength. Especially the Knights' untarnished reputation in open combat.

This was actually a net negative. Before the attack would have been an ill-planned two prong assault reliant on numbers. Now the enemy were going to get tricky. But Kurenai could be no less tricky. She quickly created a bunshin and sunk into the forest under cover of genjutsu. Soon she was flanking a pair of nervous Chuunin. Weighing the dangers of revealing herself versus the danger of letting the ambush proceed as planned she swiftly slit their throats.

Out on the road the ambush had finally begun. A Gennin had engaged Shino in one on one combat supposedly tying him up. Another Chuunin dropped from the tree line unleashing a flurry of explosive tagged kunai towards the column. The knight responded quickly blocking any that could make it past her except one that landed just in front of Kurenai's bunshin. Fire exploded into existence around the knight revealing them as more incendiary tags than regular explosives.

Kurenai watched from the sidelines, trying to determine the final target's location and plan. This final opponent was definitely a Jounin, so more than likely they were going for an assassination on the knight.

The red haired knight was also doing surprisingly well. The fire seemed to roil around her without touching her. As she lunged forward the heat of the fire even seemed to follow her, distorting the air around her. The wide short sword she'd been carrying was actually giving off a small layer of white smoke. Her opponent was surprised by her ability to take the incendiaries in stride but from the set of her face hadn't truly expected it to end that quickly.

It was Shino who broke the situation in their favor. While his opponent had temporarily backed off he put one hand behind his back and swiftly signed his insect gathered intelligence to Kurenai. One opponent, underground, moving fast straight along the road. Knowing better than to interrupt the knight in the middle of her battle, Kurenai instead threw a trio of kunai towards the road. Together they marked out a line approaching the red head.

Taking the message, the knight dodged backwards just as the enemy Jounin burst from the ground. Using her initiative she swung her sword despite not having the reach. A wave of heat roiled off the blade though forcing the man to back away. Kurenai hurried through her hand signs and cast a genjutsu on the Chuunin in an attempt to remove them from the fight. The girl screamed and fell to the ground clutching her head.

The Jounin tried to get to his teammate to dispel the jutsu. With a wave of her empty hand the Knight created a wall of earth between the two which then tipped and fell onto the incapacitated girl. Now aware of the green clad woman's doton capacity, he lunged to the side narrowly avoiding a sudden rise in the earth beneath his feet. He hurried through a set of hand signs and launched a ration thunderbolt at her. She set her feet apart and placed her empty hand out palm up while letting her blade fall to touch the ground. The chakra laced lightning connected with her heat shroud and jumped across her chest in the avenue created by the heat then down the sword into the ground without actually affecting her at all.

Kurenai threw a pair of kunai at the enemy Jounin. He evaded them, but in an attempt to move out of her line of fire placed himself in an awkward position in relation to the Knight. She lashed out again with her doton stair stepping the ground beneath his feet. He quickly created two bunshin and split up. One dodged left, the other right, while one flipped over her head entirely. Kurenai detected that the two dodging left and right were fakes and focused on the one overhead, but the Knight tracked the one heading left with her eyes.

Surprising them both the Knight dropped her blade and flung her arms wide. The ground before her split in twain revealing the real Jounin a few underground. With a sadistic smile the woman clapped her hands together slamming the torn earth back together. Just before the fissure closed completely it sprayed blood into the air. The bunshins disappeared immediately and silence descended on the road. After a moment of waiting the Knight picked up her sword and set it back in its scabbard. She allowed the heat shroud around her to drop at the same time.

Kurenai took the moment's peace to check in on her students. Shino had long since defeated his opponent and moved to join Kiba and Hinata at the back. The last of the mercenaries were already trapped by the team of gennin and would be dead in the next few moments. Kurenai returned to the road and walked over to the client who had kept his two bodyguards close at hand during the engagement.

"This battle is coming to an end, we would appear to have won," she said to the young noble.

"Yes, yes… Very good work. We should like to rest after the battle, but perhaps not right here…?" He said trying to keep his regal bearing but unable to quite take his eyes off the pool of blood that marked the Jounin's passing. "Also, did you happen to see what village they were from?"

"They wore the forehead protectors of Iwa-nin. I believe we may have a point to rest at about an hour up the road," Kurenai replied.

"Hmm… Well despite the danger I must express some disappointment. I had hoped to witness Saana-dono's famed power brought out to full effect if we did run into trouble." He flashed a complimentary smile, "It seems that your support allowed her to fight at a restrained pace."

Kurenai simply nodded, unsure what to say. In her book there was too thin a margin between victory and death in every battle to worry about whether you'd been able to go all out. What's more it wasn't the woman herself lamenting the short battle, but a noble who admittedly didn't face battle on a daily basis. Feeling the conversation was over she instead walked over to where her team were recovering from the battle.

"Good work. And I don't just say that as your sensei, the client is pleased with our performance as well. We're going to keep going for another hour to get away from the battle site. After that we'll have a chance to rest before we head straight into town." Kurenai told them.

They each nodded in assent and moved back into travel formation. Kurenai smiled at how well they worked together and slipped back into place just behind the Knight. "Saana-dono, we'll be continuing for another hour before we rest, if you'd please lead the way."

The red head simply nodded and set off.

* * *

Haruno Sakura clutched her chest, partially against the cold and partially against the agony. She wasn't hungry today, not like she'd been the last two weeks. One of the local merchants had taken pity on her and given her a pair of rice balls… yesterday. She'd learned to make food last.

There wasn't anything stopping her from returning to Konoha, nothing except her pride. It had been her solemn vow at age four to become the greatest kunoichi in the history of Konoha. Three months later she was diagnosed with the heart condition that was currently making her chest feel like it was exploding. She should have given up then, but her father had already instilled in her the fact that a Haruno never gives up.

So here she was, proving she could make it on her own. Which she was, mostly. Now if her chest would just stop hurting she'd be fine.

There was a sound of crunching dirt and rock as someone approached her. She looked up and went wide eyed at the sight. A woman in emerald green armor with short cropped red hair towered over her. A gloved hand came to rest on her chest and a green glow emanated from the woman's palm. The pain slowly eased.

"Follow me," the woman said. Without a second glance the red head had turned and was walking away. Sakura had to scramble to catch up to her. Now that the pain was gone, though, she didn't have any difficulty keeping pace.

She felt somewhat self-conscious as they entered the more affluent side of town. Her clothing was little more than dirt encrusted rags at this point. The village was a long ways from Konoha to begin with and she hadn't had anything resembling a bath since she'd gotten out of the forest. A few of the guards gave her a cross look, but none of them dared to approach her while it was clear who she was following.

As soon as they'd entered the expensive looking inn four attendants walked over to greet them. "Welcome back, Saana-sama." The oldest of the group said.

The warrior woman reached into the gap between her shirt and her breastplate and pulled out a small purse. "Get the girl some traveling clothes," she said throwing the purse to a younger female attendant. Then she turned to the oldest attendant, "take her to get a proper bath, then see that she's brought to my room."

The attendant placed an arm around Sakura's shoulder and led her down a side hallway. Soon they were standing in a room with a few open cupboards. "Leave your clothes here," the woman said giving her a stern look. Sakura couldn't help a blush, but started undressing. Even more surprising though was that the woman was also undressing. "I will accompany you and ensure you are properly washed." Sakura was about to say something but the older woman cut her off, "This is not up for debate."

Once they were both naked the attendant grabbed a pair of towels and shepherded her into the actual bathing area. She was pushed onto a small wooden seat and had a bucket of water dumped over her head. The older woman was firm as she scrubbed her down, but not unkind. By the time the scrubbing was done she felt extremely tender, but for the first time in a long time she truly felt clean. After a quick appraisal the woman smiled.

"Now, we're going to take a nice soak. We want you relaxed and healthy when we take you to Saana-sama." The woman once again took her by the shoulders.

Sakura thought her wording was odd for a moment then it clicked into place and she blushed. "Ahh, I don't think that's…"

The woman raised an eyebrow, "I've been around a long time. Powerful individuals don't simply take in the less fortunate individuals out of the kindness of their hearts…" She looked thoughtful for a moment, "If she attempts to force you into anything, there is a whole team of Konoha ninja next door. Just scream and I'm sure they'll intervene, but… For a girl in your position there are greater benefits to going along."

Sakura couldn't help slowing down slightly. Saana-san had never actually said what she was selected for. In fact Saana-san hadn't said much of anything at all. A sudden swell of apprehension gripped her.

* * *

Saana sighed as she climbed the stairs to her room. She hated combining jobs. It may be more efficient, but it always left an opening for a conflict of interest. If worse came to worse now she'd have to abandon her defense of the young lord in favor of making sure the girl reached the Inner Order alive.

Still at least it was a happy duty. They only recruited a couple new members to the knights a year. It was nice seeing new faces around the compound… even if this new face came with circumstances. Actually said circumstances mostly made her want to laugh, but it would be impolite to the great ninja villages to find so much humor at their expense.

She entered the room and could already feel her muscles beginning to relax. It wasn't truly safe to sleep in a foreign bedroom, ninjas were expert assassins after all, but she still enjoyed the peaceful bliss of her sleep. With a quick stretch she cast her eyes around to take in the room… And immediately paused at the sight of the girl.

The rose haired girl was sitting on the bed wearing only a robe. For that matter she seemed unsure as to whether she was supposed to be wearing the robe or not and had allowed it to fall off her shoulders. Even worse she seemed to have been fully dolled up in makeup. She couldn't quite decide if this was what it looked like or not.

The chosen ones were always lesbians, and teenagers. So it wasn't exactly beyond the pale that the girl might have been attracted to her and decided to act on it. Still, from the way she was shaking it didn't exactly seem likely. Had she been put up to it perhaps?

"Saana…sama" The girl looked up at her with yielding eyes. Saana had to hard swallow and prayed nothing made it to her face. She'd been planning to have a long conversation with the girl, but she no longer had a clear enough head to discuss anything.

As gently as possible she grabbed the lapels of the girl's robe and fixed it so that she was wearing it correctly. "Go to sleep. We've got a long ways to go."

Sakura looked up at her, confused. "Where are we going?"

"Kansaki Town," Saana said. "Now go to sleep."

"But there's only one bed…" Sakura said.

"Yes." Saana said. "You are vulnerable should we be attacked by assassins. I need you close to protect you. We are especially vulnerable as we sleep."

"Oh." Sakura replied. The girl was still obviously confused, but complied anyways.


	6. Naruto Jump City

AN: I do not own Naruto, xxxHolic, nor DC Comics.

Concept: Naruto – Teen Titans crossover. Just a few things I wanted to try, like Naruto killing Sasuke at the valley of the end, and joining neither the Titans nor their standard villains. In fact he can't ever join the superheroes nor the supervillains and I rather like that. Let's me focus on the character.

* * *

Naruto Jump City

* * *

The blond boy stared at the carnage wrought upon the area around him. Massive gashes from powerful attacks rent the earth and redirected the water. A small land bridge that had crossed in front of the waterfall was now nothing more than rocky debris.

A single black haired boy stood out among the destruction. His body was pale and still without so much as a breath to stir it. The very sight of it burned in the blond boy's mind. Guilt, rage and grief warred inside him. And at that moment, all he really wanted to go away… Far. Far. Away.

As the power of wishes is oft underestimated by mortals, it surprised him when the scene faded away and disappeared. Instead he was in a garden. Standing in the center of the garden facing him was a tall woman with black hair and a fancy kimono. On either side stood twin girls about his age, one with blue hair the other pink. Lastly a young man in a black uniform was leaning heavily on a very large pot.

"What is your wish?" The woman asked.

"I want to go away… Forever," The blond boy replied.

"Forever is a long time… Are you certain that is what you wish?" She asked him.

The boy thought about it for a long moment, but finally nodded. "Yes."

"Then there is another I must speak to as well." With a wave of her hand a seal on the boy's stomach opened wide and a river of bubbling red chakra poured out. Soon the river formed itself into the visage of a fox. "What is your wish?" She asked.

"Freedom!" The fox didn't hesitate to cry out.

"That is an expensive wish, in order to grant it I will need one third of your power in exchange," She told the fox.

"A price I'll gladly pay!" The fox replied.

With a slight smile the woman drew from the river of red power and subtly guided it through the air and into the large pot. The young man in black leaned back and watched it suspiciously as it flowed. Meanwhile the blond simply watched, barely more than interested. When the last drop of the willingly given power fell into the pot the seal on his stomach glowed bright… and then disintegrated and disappeared.

"As for your price," The woman continued as though hardly interrupted. "You were born with a great destiny, be it good or evil you would have been the greatest of all time. The price you must pay is that destiny, that divinity of good or evil. You will never be truly good nor truly evil, you must forever walk the line… Do you accept?"

The blond boy gave a slight smile and replied, "Yes."

The woman motioned to the pot. "Then drink. Drink it all and when you wake, your wish will be fulfilled."

Nodding to himself the boy moved to the edge of the pot. With strength far above that of a normal human he lifted it to his lips and drank. It tasted like fire and rage and the birth of the world. Power filled his body until it felt like he was standing in the center of a sun, and yet he drank more. And when there was no more, he knew the same.

* * *

When he woke, the first thing Naruto noticed was that he was naked. The second thing was the absence of wind which led him to lift himself off the ground and get a better look at his surroundings. All around him was empty space, mostly quiet though the din of a large city still filtered in. Apparently he was in a warehouse.

He began to stretch out his muscles but stopped partway through. There were more limbs stretching than he'd expected. Three more to be exact. With somewhat idle curiosity he wrapped the limbs around so that he could see them. Of course he was even more confused at the sight of three fox tails, white tipped with otherwise blond fur.

Taking a better look at himself didn't reveal any random spots of fur on his body. Although the twitching of his ears informed him that those might have changed slightly as well. Strangely his nails and teeth seemed as human as ever, despite how Kyuubi's chakra usually changed that.

Deciding to solve his modesty issue first he quickly molded the chakra for a henge. While the jutsu worked, he could feel his chakra control had backslid tremendously. With the sheer amount of chakra he'd overloaded the technique with it was a good sign he'd be launching himself off walls if he tried wall-walking with it anytime soon.

With a sigh he wandered over to a door built for people to use, unlike the large loading area door, and stepped outside. It was... Overwhelming. The noise, the smell, all of it was far more than he was used to. In some ways it was sweet and in other ways painfully acrid. Still, nothing would come of standing around like an idiot. First stop… Clothes.

* * *

It was several years later that a sixteen year old Naruto walked down a seemingly deserted alleyway with an armful of groceries. Without a second thought he kicked a flat piece of aluminum away from a hole in a crumbling brick wall and ducked through. "Mind closing the door for me?" He asked the red headed girl that was sitting in the shadows by their makeshift doorway. The girl gave him a silent nod and moved to complete the task while he continued into the building.

"You're back!" A black haired boy of about six years of age shouted. He was quickly joined by his similarly coifed older brother, though the preteen was much quieter about it.

"Yep, got a full load too. So long as we're careful this should last us a week," Naruto said, giving them a faint grin. He also let his henge drop revealing his ears and tails. The six year old ran up to him and grabbed on one of his tails. Naruto just shrugged and kept walking, dragging the child along with him.

"Bro!" Another voice called out as he entered the central room. A chorus of 'boss' and 'bro' filled the room as the twelve children currently present all ran over to welcome him back. Their ages ranged from four to fourteen but mostly they were towards the younger range. Older kids tended to branch out on their own for better or worse.

He set the groceries down on the central table and looked to the black haired preteen whose brother was currently molesting his tail. "Can you make sure this all gets given out and put away? I need to go check on Jewel." The boy nodded solemnly and even grabbed his brother to help.

Naruto walked down a short hallway then knocked quietly on an open door. A girl his age looked up at him, her naturally black lips curled into a frown, but her onyx eyes showed it to be one of concern. "She's not getting any better…"

The blond nodded and looked past the black eyed girl to the eight year old lying on a tattered mattress. They didn't have more than an old and worn blanket to cover her with and it didn't seem like it was enough. Sweat beaded on the little girl's forehead and though she opened her beautiful rainbow colored eyes to look at him they lacked any sign of understanding or recognition. With slow deliberate movements he walked to her bedside and placed a hand on her sweat slick forehead dislodging a few matted strands of pale blue.

"We're going to need to get her to a professional," Naruto said with a frown. Professionals were rarely licensed medical doctors. They were the last line between the dark side and the light in that sense. Some were MDs that were willing to be discreet, but most were people who had the training but couldn't get the license for one reason or another. Usually their criminal past.

Still it was worthwhile for the most part. Going to a hospital meant getting put back in the foster system. For Metas it was like playing roulette. They took a lot more abuse than regular kids for whatever reason. Unfortunately they weren't just powerless kids. Six times out of ten it ended in a murder investigation and sadly even being more than human didn't mean it always fell out in the kid's favor. Jewel was a high risk case, powers freaky enough to scare a foster shitless… but not enough to actually kill the bastard if it came down to that.

"That's going to take money… We don't make that kind of cash with our regulars," Maize, the black lipped girl, said. Naruto couldn't quite suppress a shudder. They kept the younger kids out of it, but he and Maize hadn't been above selling their bodies in the past. Jewel wasn't the first sick kid they'd handled, just the worst.

"Then all that's left is theft," Naruto told her.

She turned an uncertain gaze on him. "What about… The Titans?" Her voice low, as though she were trying to avoid summoning them with her words.

"I could take the Titans blindfolded." Naruto smirked. "Besides, beating them isn't the priority. I can always just leave some clones to distract them while I make off with the goods."

Maize frowned at him, but her gaze soon shifted to Jewel. "Alright… When do you leave?"

"Tonight. The sooner the better. Think you can call up Shiner and set him up for a meeting?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, what are you bringing him?" She replied.

"Ice."

* * *

An old man shuffled across the floor of the diamond shop towards the door. He'd locked up every night at nine-pm on the dot for several years now. Today would be no different he thought. Today he was wrong.

Just before he could lock the door a high school girl with dark hair and a very typical jeans and t-shirt outfit slammed the door open and strode in. Before he could get back on his feet the girl lifted him up with consummate ease and dragged him towards the back of the store. "What's the combination on the safe, gramps?" She asked.

"I won't tell you—" He was cut off by a sudden and acute certainty that this girl was going to kill him. While in other occasions the thought of pissing his pants might have mortified him, this time he didn't even notice. "It's twenty two forty two, please don't kill me!"

"So long as the combination turns out solid you'll be fine," The girl told him. She dragged him along until she reached the shop's safe and swiftly input the code she was given. He audibly sighed in relief when the safe popped open.

Without sparing him another thought she emptied the unset diamonds within into a small backpack. Then she grabbed the small stack of cash within as well. Any actual jewelry was completely ignored despite its value. Throwing the old man a smirk she turned to leave, "Ciao gramps, let's hope we never see each other again."

Unfortunately the door opened and another pair of teenagers entered the store. One wore a dazzling array of red and green with a dark cape which had blinding yellow on the interior side. A small domino mask hid his identity. The other was more machine than man, though what skin could be seen showed him to be of African descent.

"Drop it," Robin said. His partner, Cyborg, raised his arm to reveal it was already in a mode to shoot its sonic blasts.

"Really…" The young woman said as she moved closer to one of the display cases, "You'd allow your friend to fire his sonic blaster in here. I'm not sure gramps would thank you for that… Insurance covers a bit of theft like mine just fine. You break too much of his merchandise though… Well it's hard staying in business with nothing to sell."

Cyborg started to look confused and threw a sidewise glance at his erstwhile leader. Robin just narrowed his eyes. "I said. Drop. It."

That was all he got to say before he was smashing through the display window and out into the street with the girl's feet firmly planted in his chest. Cyborg tried to nail her with a shot from his blaster but the girl dodged with both skill and athleticism. His shots merely cracked the pavement behind her as she ran. For a moment he thought about chasing her, but seeing that Robin hadn't stood up he decided to check on his teammate instead.

It was several blocks away that the girl entered the shadows. A few seconds later Naruto emerged from the shadows and began a more leisurely walk home.

* * *

"You assured me this shipment was safe," A shadowed man growled into his phone.

"It… There was a miscommunication. The guards showed up at Ten rather than Nine, it could happen to anyone," The voice nervously replied.

"Well it just happened to _my shipment. _Which means if you don't get it back _it _will happen to _you_. Am I understood?" He asked.

"Uh… yeah. Crystal clear… I'll just… I'll get right on that, sir." The voice at the other end of the line hung up.

"Incompetent." The man muttered to himself.

* * *

Naruto stared at the small backpack which currently held somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred thousand dollars. A part of him already hated the bag and its contents. When you're used to having nothing, a sudden large influx is hard to get a good mental handle on. There were so many things they could do with that money, from stupid selfish things like buying nice clothes, to big things like getting everyone proper beds and blankets and shit. It was hard holding his discipline in an iron grip and reminding himself they could worry about what to do with the windfall after Jewel was all better.

If Jewel ever got all better. As optimistic as he was, he'd been on the streets for years now. Not all illnesses just passed on their way through, some were forever. In those cases… Well that's when they found themselves making the hard choices. The ones that made it hard to look in a mirror some days.

Still if he was feeling the temptation then anyone else would too. That's why only Maize knew about the bag's contents. Everyone else had been told it was statuettes, stupid things that only had value because one of Shiner's clients wanted them.

A few minutes later Maize entered the room and gave him a slight smile, "Shiner's willing to set up a meet and greet tomorrow at noon. This is just a chance to show him a sample and set up the prices."

Naruto nodded, "Good. I'd rather get this over with before it becomes messy."

* * *

Naruto glared at the sliding glass door on the balcony across from the one he was crouching on. Shiner had a lot of customers who didn't have a problem reaching a sixth story balcony and wouldn't like getting caught on his apartment's security tapes. This made the balcony more or less his business entrance.

That it was closed meant little. You knocked, he opened, standard procedure… But the blinds were closed. Now _that_ was odd. Not seeing inside was something Shiner always consider impolite. It's 'being unwelcoming' he'd say.

Still he had a schedule to keep. With a single leap he easily cleared the space between the balconies and landed without much noise outside the window. Moving up to it he knocked three times, loudly and concisely. Shiner had a thing about knocking clearly and concisely. He waited for about thirty seconds and tried again when there was no response.

After a good two minutes of waiting he finally just opened the door and paused. The smell of burnt flesh and blood wafted thickly out of the apartment. Deciding not to chance it, Naruto created a shadow clone and let it enter the apartment. He didn't have to wait more than a few minutes for the clone to dispel itself. It was only his personal experience with horrific injuries that kept him from vomiting.

Whoever had got to him had taken most of the morning. Obviously they'd wanted answers, and in all likelihood he had given them. It seemed like a hell of an overreaction. Shiner never really got into anything _that_ dangerous. Every transaction was under a million total, and in the world of organized crime that really wasn't enough to get worked up over. Even if they did, they'd just rough him up a bit and keep him alive for future dealings. This… Well someone was _serious._

Shaking his head he turned and took to the roofs. Whatever was going on, he had to get home fast. There was no telling how much they got out of him about his clients.

* * *

Naruto knelt next to Maize, one hand on the wound perforating her abdomen in a vain attempt to stop the blood. He already knew it was too late. None of them were medically trained but his own ninja training taught him a great deal about identifying mortal wounds. This one got her through the kidney. It wouldn't be instant, but she'd be dead long before they could get her to a hospital.

His clones laid the bodies of three more children next to him. Karter was a brown haired brat who always complained about how the food didn't measure up to his mother's cooking. Jack never spoke much but he always did his part to pick up heavy lifting jobs when he could. Megan wasn't allowed outside too often. Her features were twisted and wicked looking getting her in more trouble than anything. Nicest girl you'd ever meet, just misfortunate enough to look scary.

Half dozen children watched him silently from the shadows. "I'm sorry, Maize… So sorry." It was all he said. In an instant he shoved his kunai through her heart joining her in that final cry of pain before she went still.

He got up and walked over to the thug they'd managed to get tied up. There'd been eight guys storming the place. Eight hardcore bad dudes. Probably thought this would be the easiest job of their lives, stealing from babies. But Naruto had trained his little soldiers well.

Seven bad dudes lay motionless where his clones piled them on the floor. Only this one was left alive, and he'd only live to regret that fact. "You're going to tell me who hired you. Then you're going to tell me where he is. After that… Well… That'll just be for fun."

"I ain't going to talk," the man says, his eyes set and filled with anger.

"Oh I know. Tough guy like you will never say what I want out loud…" Naruto motioned for a redheaded girl to join him. "Now, as much as I hate having to subject little Maria here to this… It turns out you really don't have to say anything. Just scream. We'll handle the rest."

He pulled out one of his last two kunai and placed it over the guy's ear. "Now… Who hired you?" He raised an eyebrow at the young redhead, but she shook her head. He nodded and cut, eliciting a howl of pain from the man. Naruto just moved his weapon to the other ear, "So… Who hired you?"

* * *

It was two hours later before Naruto could pause and truly take stock of the situation. He had a name and a location to begin his search… But he was missing something important. The diamonds were missing, as were a certain pair of black haired brothers. That they stole from him bothered him, but at the moment he was more concerned for their well being. This was a serious shithole they'd opened up on themselves.

With a sigh he made a cross sign with his hands and summoned a new batch of clones. "Alright, we're going buddy-guard system. Each of you clones take a brat and head to the old mill. Those left over shadow one of the groups from a safe distance and make sure they reach their destination." All of the clones nodded and spread out, collecting their charges.

"What are you going to do, boss?" A young blond boy asked.

"First, I've got to get Jewel to the hospital. Then I'm going to go and have a… chat… with the guy who ordered this. After that I've got some punk ass brothers to track down and drag back kicking and screaming," Naruto told them. "On the other hand, I think I'll do all three at the same time."

* * *

"Hey Runto," A particularly obnoxious voice called out. Naruto just ignored it and continued down the street. "Hey Runto, I'm talking to you!"

"I'm busy, Mammoth, fuck off." He called back without turning around. On instinct he dodged a pink bolt and finally stopped to face his pursuers. "The fuck is wrong with you jackasses. I told you I'm busy."

Gizmo, Jinx and Mammoth all looked at him fairly unimpressed. "Word on the street is that you've got a nice juicy price on your head Runto," Jinx told him.

"Whatever it is, it isn't worth it. I'm out of your league assholes," Naruto shot back.

"Oh, I'm so scared… Ain't like you to grow a spine, Runto," Mammoth said. "Come on then. Give me your best shot." The giant never even saw the axe-kick coming, but it ground his face into the pavement nonetheless. A blond tail lashed out and grabbed Jinx around the neck before throwing her into a nearby wall.

"The—" Gizmo didn't even finish his epithet before a kick to the jaw sent him sailing into the air.

Mammoth was already dragging himself out of the pavement, though his movements were a bit sluggish. "God damn…" He shook it off and charged at Naruto. The blond merely sidestepped him and grabbed his ankle with one of his tails to trip him up. Once more Mammoth found himself eating pavement.

"I'm out of your league. I'm not in the mood. And I'm SEVERELY PISSED OFF! So if you come at me again… _I will kill you._" Naruto growled at the downed teenagers. None of them challenged him as he walked away.

* * *

His destination was a rather inconspicuous office on the twenty-seventh floor of a downtown high-rise. Mobsters liked places like these for the sort of false dignity it gave them. Especially people running phone scams and the like. It always paid to look respectable from the outside.

A frown settled across his face as he found the place empty. There were a few signs of recent habitation, but in all likelihood as soon as their thugs went off the grid they did too. It also meant the thugs were probably hired under a fake name. This is where the trail went cold.

He sat down and took a good look out of the floor to ceiling windows. Jump City gleamed in the sunlight like the bastion of civilization it was supposed to be. Out in the harbor a massive T gave the average citizen hope and reassurance. Lies. Damned lies. One day he'd burn Titan Tower to the ground and remind them all that even their heroes were human. That even the people they crushed beneath their feet could surpass them. One day…

But today he could still feel Maize's blood on his hands. Could still see the look on Jack's face when he figured out some mind game. And he could remember the day that Megan tried to make normal friends and wound up crying herself to sleep for a week. Even Karter… He may have been an annoying little shit, but everyone secretly listened just a little closer when he talked about his mom. They just felt a little closer to normal with every story about a woman they'd never know… Like it filled a miniscule piece of the gap their mothers' absences made.

Somewhere in Jump City there was a man who'd ordered that they be ended. Somewhere in Jump City there was a murderer with suspiciously clean hands. Somewhere in Jump City there was a man who was going to die.


End file.
